I love our country. We live in the greatest country in the world. We have the world's largest economy. We have the world's strongest military. We have the world's most advanced technology. We are the world's richest country. We have the world's best transportation system. Those are just a few of the things we lead the world in. Before we get the big head there is another first place trophy that we hold. We are the most wasteful country in the world. Literally, we produce more garbage than anyone else in the world. Even though we have four percent of the world's population we produce twelve percent of the world's waste and garbage. The average American is responsible for seventeen hundred pounds of garbage a year and that is not just trash talk either. We waste more food than any other nation in the world. When you take into account all the food that homes, restaurants, various companies and corporations, we throw away forty-percent of our food. We are talking about bringing home two bags of groceries and taking one bag and basically throwing almost all of it out on the ground. It will never go to feed a homeless person or a child stuck in poverty. It is wasted.
The richest country in the world wastes the most money. The average American wastes $18,000 a year buying things they don't even need. Please understand, I am not trying to be a debbie downer here, but I believe there is even a greater waste going on, not just in America, but around the world that breaks the heart of God more than any other type of waste and that is a wasted life. Although you waste food, you can buy more food. Even though you waste money, you can make more money, but you only have one life and it is too precious to waste.
Today, I want to share with you one principle straight from the word of God on how to make sure that you, not only don't waste your life, but you both give your life and get out of your life the one sure fire way to make sure that you achieve the potential of your life and live your life to the fullest. Here is the principal. Keep your eyes on the prize. Let me tell you what I mean. Life is exactly like a race. From the time you are born until the time you die you are running a race. The one goal in every race is to cross the finish line. No matter what else you do in a race it doesn't matter how hard you run or how fast you run. If you don't cross the finish line you won't win.
Football is the same way. There is only one way you can win a football game- you have to cross the goal line! You have to physically put the football across the goal line or you kick a football between the goal post or you will never win a football game. . And then you must keep your eye on that goal. The great philosopher Yogi Berra wisely said,"be careful if you don't know where you are going you might not get there." I would also tweak that to say this, "be careful that you are headed to the right goal or you would be better off not getting there."
I look back on my life and see that the things that have made my life most meaningful are the goals that I have achieved that give you purpose. Goals give you direction and the drive and the desire to achieve, to produce, to be better. JC Penny said, "give me a stock clerk with a goal and I will give you a man who will make history. Give me a man without a goal and I will give you a stock clerk."
We are looking in the book of Philippians and one sure-fire way to get joy in the life you are living is to set God-given goals and then to give your life every day to reach those goals. A man by the name of Paul gives us the formula on how to do that. He gives us three simple steps that you can use at the beginning of every year, every month, every week, and every day to make that year, that month, that week, and that day the best year, best month, best week and best day of your life. Here is how you keep your eyes on the prize. Philippians 3
Forget what is behind you: 1. No matter where you are in your life or how much you either have achieved or haven't, remember this. You will never achieve all of your goals, but you should always have goals that you never achieved. 2. Paul begins by saying, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." (Philippians 3:12, ) The funny thing about Paul is you would admire all the things he had achieved in his life. He was the world's greatest theologian, the world's greatest church planter, the world's greatest missionary. Many would say he was the world’s greatest follower of Jesus christ. There are still a lot of places he wants to go and a lot of things he wants to do. Though he has reached a lot of his potential he has not reached all of it. I don't care where you are in your life. As long as you are drawing a breath there will always be more lessons to learn, more principles to apply, more room to grow. The first step you have to take to move forward is to quit looking backward.
"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind..." (Philippians 3:13, NIV) Too many people never get to where they need to go today or tomorrow, because they are still living in yesterday. The truth is you can't focus on where you are going until you forget where you've been. No runner has ever won a race by running the entire time looking backwards. You cannot sail the ship of your life into the seas of the future if your anchor is stuck in the mud of the past. You can't run forward if you are always looking backwards. It is so easy to want to do that. There are a lot of things I wish I could do over again as a pastor. There are certainly a lot of things I wish I could do over again as a father and as a husband. There are things I’ve done in my life I wish I could undo. There are words I said I wish I could take back. Sir Winston Churchill said it perfectly, "If the past quarrels with the present there can be no future. We must learn to accept the past as unalterable and move on."
Don't misunderstand what that word "forget' means. It doesn't mean to "fail to remember." I mean there is no way you can ever totally erase the past from your memory. The word"forget" literally means "not to be influenced or affected by." For example, God says in Isaiah 43:25, "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more." (Isaiah 43:25) When he says,"I will remember your sins no more", it doesn't mean that all of a sudden God comes up with a bad memory or he gets spiritual dementia. It simply means he will no longer allow your past to affect your present relationship with him and your future fellowship with him. I have heard people say this,"I used to. I used to regularly attend worship. I used to be involved in a small group. I used to disciple other people. I used to go on mission trips. I used to share my faith. I used to serve in my church. What we must all do is this: Learn from the past. Live in the present. Look to the future. Which leads exactly to the next step in order to keep your eyes on the prize. Focus on what is before you.
Paul has put his past where it belongs, in the rearview mirror. Now he can put the present where it belongs - on his windshield. Paul gives us the secret to what we must do every day if we are going to get the most out of that day and that day is going to get the most out of us. "Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing, I do" (Philippians 3:13, NIV) In two simple words, Paul tells us the difference between mediocrity and superiority. The difference between an ordinary life and a super ordinary life. The words are "one thing." Have you thought about how important those two words are in the bible? There was a rich young ruler who came to Jesus and asked him how he could receive eternal life. He told him all the things he had done, all the commandments he had kept and he was stunned when Jesus said, "one thing you lack."
Jesus was staying in the home of his adopted family - Lazarus and his two sisters, Martha and Mary. Martha was in the kitchen cooking dinner and Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to him teach. Martha got upset because she was doing all the work by herself, and she came in and began to fuss at Mary to come and help her. Do you know what Jesus said to Martha, "Martha, only one thing is needed." The greatest king who ever lived, David, a man after God's own heart who could have asked God for anything and God would have given it to him said, One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. Psalm 27:4-5
Do you know why one thing is such a big deal? Anybody knows that concentration is the secret of power. You could take a swamp and channel that swamp into a river that goes in one direction and you can create a tremendous source of electric energy. You can take light and concentrate it and make a laser beam that can cut through steel. The key is making sure that you set at least one goal, but make sure it is the right goal. I read about a football coach who was trying to teach his six-year-old son how to become a place kicker. He got down on his knees and put the ball down and looked at his son and said, "Son, when I nod my head, kick it!" That is how he lost his two front teeth!
I went to the Ringling Brothers Circus, I saw this man get into a cage with a lion and all he had was a stool and a whip. Have you ever wondered why a lion tamer carries a stool with him? Because, when tamer holds that stool with those legs extended towards that lion's face, the lion tries to focus on all four legs at the same time. That divided focus totally paralyzes him. God put you on this planet to focus on one thing and one thing only. You can do more than one thing, but you can only focus on one thing to be what God wants you to be. What was the one thing Paul was seeking? "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14, NIV)
The Greek word for "goal" is skopos which means "to focus on." We get our word "telescope" from that word. It means to fix your eye on a very small target. Paul's eyes were on the prize. He was focused on this one thing which he called "the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." What is that? God has called every one of us to accomplish one goal. If you accomplish this one goal in your life on a daily basis you will maximize the influence you have in your business, in your home, in your neighborhood, in your family and every other area of your life. This is the one thing we must seek daily -to know God and glorify Him. No matter what other goals you achieve in life it doesn't matter how many ladders you climb and how high you climb them. If you do not know God and glorify Him with everything you are and everything you have, your life is a waste and you chased the wrong goal.
That means that every waking moment of every day you have on this earth you do not dwell on the past and you do not dread the future. You devote yourself to the present and you make it your one thing goal to know God and to glorify Him. Keep your eyes on the prize. Face what is beyond you Paul uses a word twice in this passage to tell us how to face the future. Remember, Paul is in prison and he doesn't know what kind of future he has. He doesn't even know if there will be a tomorrow for him, but here is what he says, "If there is a tomorrow, no matter what my circumstances, I know what I will be doing. I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." He repeats himself in verse 14, "I press on toward the goal to win the prize..." (Philippians 3:14, NIV)
The word for "press on" means "to relentlessly pursue." Remember, life is like a race. In this passage, Paul is talking like an athlete. What he is saying is, "no matter how dark tomorrow may look, no matter how dire my circumstances may be, no matter how discouraging things may appear, I am going to keep running. I won't be deterred; I won't be detoured and I won't be distracted. I am going to keep my eyes on the prize of knowing God and glorifying Him until I hit the finish line of my life."
I want to be very careful how I say this, but for far too many people; their prize is retirement and too often that word is sugar coating what we really mean. When people retire, they want to be able to quit and either do nothing or only do what they want to do. God never enters into it. I believe that every follower of Jesus Christ who is going to live the cross-shaped life should be actively involved in worshipping God in their church, involved in a small group, being disciple and discipling others, serving their church someway, somehow, and both in their neighborhood and to the nations. They should be sending themselves to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do you know why we get to a certain age and we stop all that stuff? We take our eyes off the prize.
You see, what Paul said was, "I am never going to retire. I may re-tool, but I am not going to retire. I am not going to die sitting and soaking. I am going to die standing and serving." Let me ask you what one thing will you focus on for the rest of your life? At the end of the day, at the end of every day, we all focus on one or two things - what we want or what God wants.Too many people spend their life making things; instead of making things count. What would it mean for you if you finally got your eyes on the right prize and every day you pressed on toward that prize? For some of you, it would mean for the first time in your life, you would read your bible every day and read it completely through. For others of you, it would mean you would begin to manage your money in a way that honors God and be faithful financially. For many of you, you would realize that God didn't put you here to be served, but to serve, and you would find a way and a place to serve God's church and God';s people. For many of you, it would mean you are no longer going to practice lone ranger Christianity. You are going to get involved in a life group, a community group, a small group, some group where you can help others grow and grow with others. For many of you, it would mean getting serious about your activity and asking God to use you to help other people see what the real prize is and put your eyes on the prize.
God didn't put us here to run the rat race; God put us here to run the real race. He didn't put us here to run for the approval of this world, but to run for his glory. The prize is not the gold of this world; it is the glory of God. When you get your eyes on the prize and you have one goal every day to know God and to give him glory, He will make sure all the other things will fall into place.
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https://www.facebook.com/FriendsCommunityChurchOrlando/videos/6639047626192428